LITTLE ROCK — In my admittedly unconventional view, most folks long for others to acknowledge their existence and why our being here matters.
We enter this life programmed both to thrive and to make a difference in any number of ways, but that message gets increasingly lost in the intentional static of hyped irrelevancies.
We too often forget the fundamental mission of purpose in our fragile state of temporary consciousness; you know, the adage that tells us to aspire to inspire before we expire.
I’ve realized that all that really matters is what I’ll leave behind as evidence that I was here. The simplest way to ensure that you or I will leave anything of enduring value behind is by having positive or inspiring effects on other lives, particularly among the upcoming generation.
No one will remember everything I did for myself, how many flashy cars I drove or prime steaks I consumed. But a youngster who benefits frommy attention, kindness or assistance will remember. Hopefully, he in turn will pay those actions forward and have an effect on others he encounters.
This can be lots easier said than done. It’s easier to focus on our own shortterm gratification, perhaps to even belittle or demonize others in hopes that by doing so we’ll aggrandize ourselves.
That never works. Whew, this life thing is a challenge.
Apex
All I can add is wooo pig. The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has risen to America’s top-ranked institutions of higher education, says the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which regularly publishes its classification of the country’s 4,633 universities and colleges ranked in 33 possible classifications.
Now resting smack-dab in the bull’s-eye is our own land-grant university, created by and for its people. Only 108 private and public schools, a tiny fraction of those surveyed and examined, were listed in the highest possible category of classifications.
That sounds better than, say, winning the Sugar Bowl in the final minute!
Well, better think on that a bit.
Why should you or I care about this honor? Well, this kind recognition can seriously help our state’s economic growth by hoisting it into the spotlight of the world stage as a place where industries, innovators, businesses and entrepreneurs can join hands with what’s been independently recognized as a world-class teaching and research university.
Fayetteville chancellor David Gearhart says the honor, based on three years of analysis, sends a message about the quality of Arkansas’ graduates because they can each say they matriculated (I like that word) at one of the country’s most influential and productive academic institutions.
And he is right-on when he says that such a rare honor reflects a fittingreturn on investment for hard-working tax- and tuition-payers.
Appointments
Of the last 90 announced gubernatorial appointments to state boards and commissions, only six have come from the three most populous counties in Northwest Arkansas: Washington, Benton and Sebastian. These non-legislative groups help set policies and directions for the state and various organizations.
This comes at a time when the 2010 census reveals that the ballooning populationsof Washington and Benton counties together now far exceed that of Pulaski County, the seat of state government.
I asked Matt DeCample of the governor’s office about the number of appointments from NWA. He responded: “We try to find qualified people to serve from all 75 counties in Arkansas.”
I wondered how manyof those 90 appointments were from the three Central counties of Pulaski, Saline and Faulkner, since qualified folks from all 75 counties are chosen. Care to guess?
Well, DeCample told me the governor appointed 36 citizens from those counties, which translates to over a third of the appointments, according to my feeble abilities at ciphering. Hmm. Thirty-six appointments to six.
The lesson, if one exists, is that the good people in the most populous (and basically conservative) region of our state have got to develop more clout with the chief appointer down in River City.
Energy
Pennsylvanian John Kanzius is on to something beyond amazing. He recently appeared on an Erie TV station, WKTC, to demonstrate a device that uses a radio frequency transmitter to unify oxygen and hydrogen in salt water, thereby creating a lot of energy.
“We watched it go to 1,500 degrees,” one stunned engineer said on camera.
The salt water energy was shown powering a simple engine with a steady flame of fire created from salt water.
I don’t know how efficient this process could become as an prolific source of energy, but I do know what I’m looking at when I see astounding things that might improve our lives.
Kanzius’ same radio wave process already has proved successful as a cancer treatment. See for yourself by searching the Internet for salt water as energy.
Mike Masterson is opinion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition.
Editorial, Pages 18 on 02/26/2011